Retail

Customer Experience, Intelligence and Engagement.

2017 was a significant year for retail as new trends solidified and customers became more accustomed to buying goods through newer payment gateways. Some countries like Japan, for instance, utilised cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to pay for goods and services.

A challenge to the current model of banking and paying for products was handed down when Blockchain introduced faster payment systems than PayPal, Visa and MasterCard.

How did this affect the retail space as we know it and how did brands fair in terms of growth and profits? Well, data proves that most of the well-known brands survived and actually did pretty well overall. The key to their success was their careful adoption and navigation of the right fit technologies that savvy consumers now use. The location of their advertised products online, their social media presence and relevance also played a vital role. The most profound change was the full drive toward the leverage on data and algorithms to make good use of every marketing dollar. The retail space continues to rapidly evolve with cross promotional platforms and small business channels constantly entering the market. Therefore, brands need to rely more on their reputation as customers buy into relevance instead of just the products. Customers buy into the wholeness of the brand, what it stands for and who stands for it. Brand building in 2018 and beyond will in some ways strip away the fluff and get brands back to the core of why they exist.